What Does It Mean to Believe the Gospel?

What Does It Mean to Believe the Gospel? (Mark 1:15)

According to Mark 1:14-15, Jesus Christ spent much time preaching the gospel the good news of God and his kingdom. And what did he tell people to do in response to this message? "Repent and believe the good news".

Jesus also made amazing claims about himself. From a purely human perspective, these claims are incredible, things that a sane person would not say, unless he was God.

He claimed to be the bread of the life, the light of the world, the resurrection and the life, and the way and the truth and the life (see John 6:35, 8:12, 11:25, 14:6).

There they are - spiritual fulfillment and enlightenment, eternal life, the answer to the dilemma of death, absolute truth. It's all there everything people have been seeking since the beginning of time for the one who believes in Jesus. John 3:16 says it so clearly whoever believes in Jesus will not perish in hell but instead has eternal life.

So we see that the word "believe" is used repeatedly in the New Testament to describe what a person must do in response to the claims of Christ.

But what does it mean to believe the gospel or to believe in Jesus?

The New Testament sheds much light on this all-important question, and makes it clear that there are different kinds of faith. There is true saving faith and there is a useless dead faith. Let me explain.

Here's an example of "useless dead faith": "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that and shudder" (James 2:19).

The above verse was written by James, the half-brother of Jesus, someone who knew first-hand the meaning of faith. James did not believe in Jesus at first (see John 7:5). But eventually he came to faith in Jesus because one of his letters ended up in the Bible (the book of James, quoted above), where he identifies himself as a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ (James 1:1).

James is saying that there is a type of faith that merely acknowledges the existence of God even demons believe in God to that extent. But is that the kind of faith Jesus was talking about when he offered eternal life to those who believe in Him? Obviously not.

Biblical saving faith is more than mere intellectual assent to certain facts about Jesus.

Yes, it must certainly include that inward conviction that says "I accept as true that Jesus is God in a human body; I accept as true that Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for my sin, was raised from the dead three days later, and ascended into heaven."

But mere intellectual assent to historical and theological facts is not enough. Even the demons believe that!

The Biblical definition of saving faith must also include total commitment of one's life to the claims and causes of Jesus Christ. Yes, Jesus said that the road to heaven is traveled via the walk of faith. And he described that walk as one of self-denial and obedience: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?" (Mark 8:34-36).

Self-denial, cross-bearing, and losing your life. Could there be a more unpopular topic? This is not the kind of stuff you hear about much in our "do you own thing" society. But that's what he said.

And I sympathize with those who struggle with this part of Christ's message. It's much easier to look at the Gospel from the standpoint of what I get out of it a purpose in life, inner peace, salvation from sin, eternal life. Many benefits, right?

But it's not a one-sided deal. Why should it be? In fact, Jesus said the decision to believe is just like the analysis one does when preparing a business plan: "For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' . . . In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:28-30, 33)

Whoa! Those are tough words. But words we can easily understand we know what it means to calculate the cost of something. Jesus is saying that being a Christian requires the same type of careful, deliberate planning that any businessman would undertake when determining the feasibility of his next business venture.

In other words, it's not a decision to be taken lightly, and it's not something you can do just to get something out of it. Eternal life is a free gift that God grants to those who believe (Ephesians 2:8-9), and true belief will demonstrate itself in a life of obedience to the Word of God and good works for the glory of God (Ephesians 2:10).